Mazda Needs Some Public Relations Help

My son has a 2012 Mazda 3 with 6-speed and custom tan leather with black exterior. He bought it with 40K and it now has 100K. I drove it last night and was pleasantly surprised. Great performance, even with the milage. Good HP and a slick 6-speed. I'm in the market for a new car, so based on this thread and that drive, went on the Mazda 3 hatchback online configurator. I couldn't seem to find a manual transmission in any configuration. Not available perhaps? I've driven the Hyundai Veloster Type R. Manual transmission. Quick car. Handles very well. VERY reasonably priced. Even the Veloster N has a great price. I realize the issue isn't "advertising or marketing" per se as we know it today. But it seems to me that Hyundai is more attuned (no pun intended) to the contemporary enthusiast. To wit: the Genesis G70, Veloster Type R, Veloster N, and now the Elantra N. And there's a new Genesis coupe on the way ... G60? So as a "practical" and a "value" enthusiast (even I don't need to be), I like the brand(s).

I guess the point of my rant above was not that I want to see Mazda gain the ubiquity of Toyonda.  But if a few more people have them on their radar, and they sell more cars, etc, they can stay sustainable.  I don't want hem to go away- they provide real options in the marketplace that differentiate themselves from what everyone else is offering.  I agree they seem to be a niche player- and if they're fine with that, and can keep it together, then all the power to them.  I'm happy Ford no longer owns them (honestly, if they did, I may not have bought mine!) and hope they stay independent. 

And that they keep making real drivers' cars.  I see some of their new offerings (like the 2019 3) and wonder if they're trying to copy BMW in transitioning from drivers' cars to...whatever the hell it is BMW's trying to market these days.  I get that lux price tags bring with them hefty margins.  But at least keep some sporty cars...or sporty variants.  

In reply to Gary :

I'm not super keen on the 2019 restyle on the Mazda3.  The C pillar is thick and the road tests I've read of it indicate a pretty nasty blind spot as a result.  

There still look to be some 2018's left in stock around the country, hatch's with 6 speeds.  And if you look, the cars.com configurator does show 2019 hatches available with the stick.  The 2012 your sone has is the last gen, IIRC the one I have is from the ~2014-2018 model years.  

I want to like the Korean twins, and they seem to have a lot of interesting product out there.  And it is priced attractively.  Two problems: 1) they seem to get "about 90% of the way" there in terms of how their cars stack up with others in their class, and 2) there still seem to be some niggling quality issues that pop up a little more frequently than in other makes, based on what I see.  I know several people who have bought a Kiundai, and all have had _some_ strange problem with the car.